


Tiger Stripes

by adelaide_rain



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Makeup, Or series 3b or season 4 or however you want to number it, Season/Series 03 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 20:04:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18301034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adelaide_rain/pseuds/adelaide_rain
Summary: Alec helps Magnus with his eyeliner.





	Tiger Stripes

Magnus looks at his reflection, hair falling into unlined eyes, and sees a stranger. 

On the dresser before him sits a tray containing eyeliner, a shadow palette, and brushes: gifts from Isabelle. All her favourite things, given to him with a sad smile and the tightest of hugs. He’s deeply grateful to her, warmed by both her generosity and her affection, but as he picks up the eyeliner pencil, he hates it, a little. 

Such a perfect symbol of everything he’s lost. 

His magic. 

Himself. 

Flipping it between his fingers, he watches as the silvery lid catches the morning sunlight, flashing bright and then dull, bright and dull, echoing the tumult of feelings inside him: first grief and loss; then deep gratitude that Jace is alright, and Alec along with him, before flipping back to grief. Gratitude. Grief. Gratitude. 

“Hey,” Alec says softly, rousing Magnus from his melancholy. In the mirror, Magnus watches him approach and come to stand behind him, resting his hands lightly on his shoulders. Their reflected eyes meet, and it takes Magnus a second too long to slot a smile into place. 

“Good morning,” he says, turning and reaching up to tug on the lapels of Alec’s jacket, pulling him down for a kiss. They linger there a moment, foreheads touching, and gratitude swells in Magnus, hot and fierce, burning away the grief. 

_I still have this,_ he thinks. _This is worth anything._

And it is. 

But the grief returns with sharp claws that hook into him and drag him down again, too strong to resist for long. 

Alec straightens, looking down at him, and Magnus knows he sees it. It’s one of the things he loves about Alec, the way he sees him; he always has, from the moment they met. Sometimes he doubts himself or is afraid to voice it, else stumbles over his words, but that’s just his youth. He _sees_ and that means the world. Today though, he wishes Alec was a little less observant. 

“You okay?” Alec asks, brushing his fingers over the hair that falls into Magnus’s eyes, sweeping it gently aside.

“I…” Magnus tries to come up with the words for the grey storm clouds welling inside him. “Not really,” he says eventually, voice quiet. 

Alec gives him a small sad smile, and leans down to kiss his forehead. “Maybe you just need your tiger stripes.” 

Magnus looks down at the eyeliner pencil in his hand and feels wearier than he has in a very long time.

“Let me,” Alec says, holding out a hand, and Magnus looks up at him, raising an eyebrow. “Come on, Magnus. You think I got away with being Izzy’s brother without learning how to do eyeliner?”

Both Magnus’s eyebrows rise now, but he hands over the pencil. “On you or her?”

“Both.”

The storm clouds part, and Magnus smiles. “Alec Lightwood with eyeliner… now there’s something I’d like to see.”

“Maybe if you’re very good.” Alec grins at him, then uncaps the pencil, examining the tip. “Close your eyes.” When Magnus pauses, he adds, “Trust me.”

“I do,” Magnus says, and closes his eyes. 

Alec puts a hand to his chin, tilting it up slightly, thumb stroking his lips, making Magnus smile and kiss it. Then he gets to work, gentle and surprisingly confident. The only sound in the room is their breathing and there’s something so intimate about this, about letting Alec see him at his most vulnerable and accepting his help. The thought of being so defenceless makes anxiety flap like moth wings behind his sternum, but they ease when he thinks, _This is Alexander._ There’s no one he trusts more in all the world than the man who holds his heart in his hands.

So he takes a breath and lets himself relax, smiling at Alec’s touch, at the feel of his warm breath against his skin as he leans in to inspect his handiwork, and basks in his attention. 

“Alright,” Alec says. “All done.”

Magnus opens his eyes, but he doesn’t look in the mirror. He doesn’t need to – everything he needs to see is right there in Alec’s soft smile. Affection, appreciation. Love, and a little lust, too, a constant flame beneath everything else - something Magnus always enjoys seeing. 

“One more thing,” Alec says. “Wait there.”

He heads out of the room and Magnus turns to the mirror, peering at his reflection and closing one eye then the other to appreciate Alec’s work. It’s very neat and tidy, done much more quickly than he’s managed himself. Without any of the angst, too; instead of it giving him time to linger over why he has to do this instead of being able to just snap his fingers and be done with it, having Alec do it for him turns it into something sweet, even relaxing. 

Alec returns, a tub of hair styling wax in his hand. When he arrives at Magnus’s side, he presents it to him and gently runs his fingers through Magnus’s hair. “May I?”

“You may.”

Alec smiles and unscrews the lid, scooping some up and rubbing it between his fingers to warm it. He takes a moment to look down at Magnus’s hair consideringly. 

He starts working the wax into Magnus’s hair. Magnus watches, charmed by his concentration, warmed by having Alec’s attention so completely upon him. And he’s so serious! Not exactly a surprise - Alec is a very serious man, and that makes the way he smiles so often with Magnus all the more precious. But he’s giving such a small thing everything he has, like he knows how much it means to Magnus - and of course, he does. The hair takes longer than the eyeliner, but it’s not as though Magnus minds having Alec so focused on him, having his clever fingers in his hair.

Eventually, Alec steps back, looking down at Magnus, who smiles up at him and frames his face with his hands.

“Admiring your handiwork? How do I look?”

“Gorgeous, of course,” Alec says, but there’s a pinch between his brows. “I don’t think it’s quite how you like it, though.”

“Yes, I’ve found it’s hard to get it like that without magic,” Magnus says, turning to look in the mirror. 

He draws in a breath. Alec has done a very good job. He almost recognises himself. Subtler than he likes, not quite right, but almost, closer than he’s felt since this happened.

So much better, because Alec helped him. Alec, who sees him, sees the heart and soul of him, who after a few short months knows him better than some who have known him for centuries. 

“Is it okay?” Alec asks, worry in his voice, and Magnus stands, shoving the chair out of the way and dragging Alec to him, kissing him hard and smiling at the way Alec makes a muffled, startled noise before he kisses back, arms wrapping around him and holding him close. 

“I love it,” Magnus murmurs. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Magnus smiles and rests his head against Alec’s shouder, the comfort and safety of Alec's arms around him dulling the sharp edges of his grief.

Whatever he’s lost he has Alec, who saw his despair and helped him gather his armour; who’s gently helping him put the pieces of himself back together.

He still has Alec, and that is worth anything.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to end in smut but I guess the boys had other ideas ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> I’ve been mainlining the show for the past two and a half weeks and I have a lot of emotions about these two, together and individually. I love them an awful lot.
> 
> You can find me on twitter [@adelaide_rain](http://twitter.com/adelaide_rain) for rambling and yelling.


End file.
